Author archive

saunderssherry

I am always looking for innovative ways to differentiate instruction for all students in my classroom and to share in lead teacher workshops. I was very fortunate to be able to attend Debbie Diller’s, ” Adding Rigor and Revelance to Math Work Stations in PreK-Grade 6.” Ms. Diller has a very extensive background in education and is the author of five best-selling books on literacy and math work stations, classroom organization, and small group instruction. I came away from the conference with an abundance of organizational tips, research-based ideas, and practical, realistic information.
With increased rigor in the Standards of Learning for Math and all other subject areas, I have been looking for ideas on how to improve my instructional practices in Math. My first question at the onset of the presentation was what is the difference between math centers and math work stations? I found out there was a distinct difference.
Math Work Stations:

-Materials are used by the teacher and students during instruction first. Then they are placed in the work stations for independent use.
-Stations are used for students independent work and are a part of each child’s daily instruction.
-Materials are differentiated for students with different needs and levels of math understanding.
-The teacher observes individuals at work or meets with differentiated small math groups during math work stations.

Traditional Math Learning Centers:

-New materials are often placed in the center without first being used in teaching.
-Centers were often changed weekly with units of study or even a theme.
-Centers were often used by students when they finished their work. They were used for fun and motivation.
-All students did the same activities at centers. There was not usually much differentiation.
-If the teacher met with small groups, each group often did the same task.
( Taken from Diller’s book, “Math Work Stations, Independent Learning You Can Count On, K-2)

Next, I was curious on how the stations were to be organized for optimal use in the classroom. She did an excellent job of explaining and visually showing how to achieve this. Diller referred to it in the section of her book as: Spring Cleaning: Math Manipulatives Makeover. To be honest, my makeover may end up being a major renovation!

The most beneficial aspect of the conference for me was how to use the current core curriculum to plan for and implement meaningful partner practice for the students. All stations are ideally set up to accomodate two students. The daily routine has three main steps:

1. Math Stations Mini-Lesson- To make sure students understand exactly what to do at stations. (3-7 minutes per mini-lesson)

2. Math Stations Time- To enable students to investigate math concepts with a partner independent of the teacher. (15-20 minutes; 1-2 stations a day)

3. Sharing Time- To allow students to share with the teacher and their classmates what they explored and learned. ( 5 minutes)

In addition to the organizational layout, Diller included valuable suggestions for work stations for: beginning number concepts, addition and subtraction, place value, geometry, and measurement. Today as educational leaders, we must always be searching for innovative ideas to help reach our students. I look forward to rethinking and revamping my approach to teaching math to better accomodate the needs of my students in my school.

saunderssherry

One interesting question I have often thought about throughout my educational career is: Does everyone have the capacity to become a leader? I read a very compelling blog entitled, “Is Everyone a Leader?” The blog explores the excuses that people often offer for why they cannot lead:

1. Excuse One: I can’t lead. I don’t have a position of authority.

2. Excuse Two: I am just not a natural take-charge person.

3. Excuse Three: I am an introvert-so I don’t really influence others.

4. Excuse Four: If everyone is a leader-then who is following?

5. Excuse Five: Leadership means power and power corrupts.

6. Excuse Six: Leadership roles and leadership training are just not for everyone.

7. Excuse Seven: But I’m a person of faith. Doesn’t the Bible say we are to be followers?

8. Excuse Eight: Leadership is only for people who have top positions in an organization.

In all honesty, before I began this doctoral program I probably would have used excuses 1, 2, 3, and 6. However, through the doctoral courses and interactions with cohort members, I see them as truly just excuses. I have a much better understanding of what constitutes leadership.

saunderssherry

Trying to keep up with the NCLB legislation and the increasing demanding rigor in standardized testing has caused some educators to question why they chose the profession of teaching, because the joy of it is slowly creeping away. Therefore it is essential that educational leaders encourage and train their teachers to become leaders. I read an excellent blog entitled, “Seven Reasons Why We Must Train Educators to be Leaders” in Edutopia. I feel each of the seven reasons warrant consideration:

1. As student conduct continues to decline, schools need great leaders in class.

2. Standards and requirements demand more must be accomplished in class.

3. Class sizes continue to get larger, requiring better management of students.

4. Teachers are the “farm system” for future administrators.

5. Budget cuts require teachers to be more resourceful than ever.

6. We must insure our good teachers stay and grow.

7. Kids need role models in the classroom to enable them to be career ready.
I can honestly say that if I had not been encouraged by my previous administrators, I probably would have never pursued a career in educational leadership. We must encourage our teachers to continue to grow personally and professionally so that we can provide the best education possible for all students.

saunderssherry

Our school system has recently taken a look at our present grading practices and discussed on a school level changes we would like to implement. Small adjustments have been made on report cards but nothing substantial in nature. According to Thomas Guskey, there are five obstacles to grading reform:
* Grades should provide the basis for differentiating students
* Grade distributions should resemble a normal bell-shaped curve
* Grades should be based on students’ standing among classmates
* Poor grades prompt students to try harder
* Students should receive one grade for each subject or course
Personally, I agree that they are all truly five obstacles that need to be overcome. How can this be achieved? Guskey suggests that more research on grading is needed so that we can propose more meaningful policies and practices that support learning and enhance students’ perceptions of themselves as learners. What are your views?

saunderssherry

One universal challenge that educators face today is trying to instill the love of reading in all students. As an educator, I feel the love of books should be the number one goal to achieve before reading instruction ever begins. How do you get students hooked? There are several variables that come into play. First, exposing students to different types of genres is key. Students as well as adults have different interests. So when you open that door to a new type of literature, you would be surprised how it piques interest and motivates students to find books on their own that they want to read based on what you read to them. It leads to great class discussions, too. In addition, let students read books they’ve chosen as their favorites to the entire class. I have seen many times where after a student has read a book, that others rushed to the library to try to get a copy of it to read himself/herself, or they want to peer read it.
You will then need to conduct a reading assessment to identify each student’s reading range. STAR is a common reading assessment tool used by most schools today. Once you have established the reading levels of your students, providing student choice will be imperative to promote the love of reading. I have a classroom library collection of hundreds of books I have acquired through the years from yard sales, book clubs, and books discarded from the library. And of course, you have your school library full of books.
Essentially the most important element that needs to be considered on the educator’s part is simply providing the daily time for students to engage in reading. You should begin it the first day of school and it should be implemented the entire school year. While the student are reading independently, I confer with students and assess comprehension and fluency. I also use reading response activities to stimulate comprehension and promote critical thinking skills. A research-based approach by Richard Allington I believe in whole-heartedly that improves reading is:
-Give students more time to read
-Provide reading materials at the just right level of reading difficulty (97 percent accuracy rate or higher)
-Promote reading fluency
-Teach comprehension strategies that help students develop thoughtful literacy. Finally, let your students know how much you value reading by modeling it and sharing your thoughts on great books you are reading.